Two Alleged Child Rapists Released And On The Run After Local Police Declined To Hold Them For ICE

FILE - In this July 8, 2019, file photo, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer looks on during an operation in Escondido, Calif. Advocacy groups and unions are pressuring Marriott, MGM and others not to house migrants who have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But the U.S. government says it sometimes needs bed space, and if hotels don’t help it might have to split up families. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Two separate police departments — one in New York and one in New Jersey — released alleged child child rapists back into the public after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requested they be held, and those requests denied.

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At least one of the men was arrested for what sounds like assault and restraint of a child younger than 16. The other is charged with rape of a minor under 17.

ICE told local news outlets that they requested both men be held until ICE was able to come pick them up. But jails denied those requests and subsequently released the suspects. Both men are now listed as fugitives.

ICE says the first man — Luciano Trejo-Dominguez – was arrested by Vineland, New Jersey police for allegedly restraining and sexually assaulting a child younger than 16 on Aug. 12.

Over the next two days, ICE and Pacific Enforcement Response Center both filed detainers to have Trejo-Dominguez held at the Cumberland County Jail. Those requests were denied and the alleged rapist was released on Aug. 23.

Trejo-Dominguez has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault of a victim 13-15 years-old, criminal restraint, criminal sexual contact, and endangering the welfare of a child.

The other man – Joaquin Rodriguez Quiroz — was arrested in Westchester County New York on charges of 3rd degree rape and was released after posting bond despite attempts by ICE to have the man detained until ICE could arrive and take custody.

Just this week, ICE arrested 54 people in New Jersey and complained that local jails were releasing wanted immigrants under a new rule that allowed local jails latitude to make a release decision relative to the seriousness of the crime.

The arrested immigrants included people from a dozen countries, including 21 from Mexico, nine from El Salvador and seven from Brazil, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials said.

The sweep targeted immigrants living in the country illegally who had been released from local jails in New Jersey instead of being turned over to ICE’s enforcement and removal operations — known as ERO — for possible deportation.

The new rules — called the Immigrant Trust Directive — say local jails can’t honor an “ICE detainer” in New Jersey unless the detainee has been charged with or convicted of a serious crime or has a pending deportation order from a judge.

ICE officials objected to new rules, calling New Jersey a “sanctuary state” for failing to hold undocumented immigrants until ICE agents can pick them up. New Jersey officials have said they do not believe it is legal for local jails to hold prisoners for ICE without a court order.

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ICE has also been conducting sweeps this week across New York, arresting 82 people over five days. According to ICE, over half of those 82 arrested in New York had previously been in custody awaiting ICE following a detainer request that was then denied.

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